"Many Lands, One County" Showcases Area's Diverse Cultural Heritage

It was called "Many Lands, One County" and it was billed as a festival of cultural heritage. Its intent: to give a sampling of the arts, the foods and the traditions of the people who now call Morris County home.

The event, sponsored by the Morris County Human Relations Commission and the Morris County Historical Society at the Morris County Cultural Center, mirrored the county's diversity: from the Virginia reel to hip hop, from the folk dances of Greece to the traditional dance of Trinidad, from Indian song to Israeli songs, from the Shoo fly pie of the Amish to the biscotti of Italy, from decorating the body with henna the Indian way to decorating eggs the Ukranian way.

It also was an opportunity to learn more about immigration in this "nation of immigrants." Keynote speaker for the festival was Dr. Vincent Parrillo, chairman of the sociology department at William Paterson University who talked about the waves of people who came to these shores from ports in every part of the world - from as near as the Caribbean to as far as China and Japan.

He said that the United States was not a "melting pot." Assimilation, he noted, is not subtraction, but addition. Each people added something to the national culture.

Nor has immigration ever been an easy issue. Even George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, Parrillo noted, worried about the effect of large numbers of foreign newcomers coming to the infant United States.

Heading the planning committee for the event were Ragini "Regina" Goel, past chair of the Human Relations Commission and Debra Westmorland, curator for the Historical Society.

The festival attracted nearly 300 people who sampled an array of ethnic foods and watched performers, from young children to senior citizens, demonstrate the music and dance of their countries of origin.

Among those performing were a young Colombian dance troupe from Jersey City, hip hop dancers called the Misfits, Elizabeth Forde Well and her niece, Gabrielle Forde who performed dances from Trinidad-Tobago, Cantor Guy Bonner of Temple Shalom in Roxbury who sang songs from Israel; the Metropolitan Vintage Dance and Social Club who did the Virginia reel, the Morristown Folk Dancers who performed a variety of ethnic folk dances and Anjali Suman of Rockaway, a student at the Kalashri School of the Arts.

Among those demonstrating their crafts were Anna Deysyk of Morris Plains, who showed the Ukranian art of egg decoration and Hima Mehta of Parsippany who did henna painting for guests.

The festival is part of the observance of Morris County's cultural heritage month. The celebration also includes an exhibit on Morris County immigrants, mounted by the Historical Society and now on view at the Morris County Library.